Formosat-8

Last updated

Formosat-8 is a planned constellation of Taiwanese earth observation satellites. The Taiwan Space Agency expects to launch the first satellite in 2025.

Contents

History

The program builds off of Formosat-5, a remote imaging satellite which was launched in 2017. [1]

In 2024 it was announced that the domestic parts would make up 80% of the satellites. [2] [3]

The Formosat-8 program was praised by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te during a May 2025 visit to the program office. [4]

The first launch was innitially planned for October, 2025 via SpaceX. [1] [5] [6] In early October the first satellite was flown to the United States with a new expected launch date in November. [7]

Payloads

Six of eight satellites are planned to fly high resolution optical payloads with less than 1m resolution and two satellites are planned to fly at a lower 1m resolution. [8]

Team

As of 2025 Cynthia Liu was the project manager. [8]

Satellites

Launches are expected to begin in 2025 and end in 2031. [9]

Formosat-8A (FS-8A)

The first satellite in the constellation is Formosat-8A (FS-8A). [10] [9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Nakhiengchanh, Michael. "Taiwan's FORMOSAT-8 satellite to launch in 2025". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  2. ↑ Writer, Staff. "Formosat-8 could be launched next year, agency says". taipeitimes.com. Taiwan News. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  3. ↑ "First Formosat-8 satellite could be launched late 2025: TASA". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  4. ↑ Chen, Kelvin. "Lai lauds Taiwan's FORMOSAT-8 satellite project". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  5. ↑ Chuang, Bryan; Wu, Vyra. "Taiwan to launch critical surveillance satellite in October". digitimes.com. DigiTimes. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  6. ↑ Chang, Alyx; Kuan-hsien, Wu. "1st FORMOSAT-8 satellite to be launched in October". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  7. ↑ Min-ya, Chao; Lai, Sunny. "Taiwan sends 1st FORMOSAT-8 satellite to U.S. for November liftoff". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  8. 1 2 Po-hsiung, Wu; Chia-yi, Chen. "Formosat-8 to contain Taiwan-made sensors". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  9. 1 2 Nakhiengchanh, Michael. "Taiwan's 1st Formosat-8 clears testing". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  10. ↑ Hiciano, Lery. "FS-8A set to ship to US next month: TASA". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.